A spring maintenance checklist for property managers

Spring signals a fresh start, not only for tenants but also for the properties you manage. After months of cold temperatures, moisture, and fluctuating weather conditions, commercial and residential properties often need attention.

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Photo: Raman Kumar/Pixabay

Spring is the time to check for leaks, cracked pipes, and slow drainage at all the properties you own or manage.

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by Casey Cartwright
Contributing Writer

Spring signals a fresh start, not only for tenants but also for the properties you manage. After months of cold temperatures, moisture, and fluctuating weather conditions, commercial and residential properties often need attention. Proactive seasonal maintenance helps prevent small issues from turning into expensive repairs, improves tenant satisfaction, and preserves long-term property value.

A detailed spring maintenance checklist for property managers ensures nothing gets overlooked. From exterior inspections to system testing and asphalt repairs, here’s how property managers can prepare their buildings for a successful season ahead.

Inspecting the Building Exterior

Winter can be harsh on building exteriors. Ice, snow, and freezing temperatures often leave behind visible and hidden damage. Spring is the ideal time to conduct a thorough inspection of siding, brickwork, stucco, and paint. Look for cracks, loose materials, water stains, and signs of deterioration that may have developed over the colder months.

Roof inspections are equally important. Shingles may be missing or damaged, flashing can loosen, and gutters may have pulled away from the structure due to ice buildup. Even small roofing issues can lead to leaks that compromise insulation, ceilings, and walls. Addressing minor problems early prevents costly water damage and mold growth later.

Windows and doors should also be examined for broken seals, damaged weather stripping, and frame warping. Proper sealing improves energy efficiency and keeps cooling costs manageable as temperatures rise.

Servicing HVAC Systems

As properties transition from heating to cooling, HVAC systems must be inspected and serviced. After working hard all winter, heating components may show signs of wear. Before summer temperatures arrive, air conditioning units should be tested to ensure they are functioning properly.

Replace air filters, clean coils, inspect ductwork, and confirm thermostats are calibrated accurately. Preventive maintenance not only extends the life of HVAC systems but also improves indoor air quality and energy efficiency. For multi-unit properties, scheduling professional servicing early in the season can prevent emergency repair calls during peak demand periods.

Keeping detailed maintenance records also supports warranty compliance and helps property managers track equipment performance over time.

Landscaping and Curb Appeal

First impressions matter. Spring landscaping plays a major role in maintaining curb appeal and tenant satisfaction. Start by clearing away debris left behind by winter storms, including fallen branches, dead plants, and accumulated leaves.

Inspect irrigation systems for leaks or broken sprinkler heads before regular watering schedules begin. Fertilizing lawns, reseeding patchy areas, and trimming shrubs promote healthy growth throughout the season. In commercial settings, refreshed landscaping can enhance the overall image of the property and attract prospective tenants.

Hardscaped areas such as walkways and patios should be power washed to remove grime and salt residue. Clean, well-maintained grounds demonstrate professionalism and care.

Checking Plumbing and Drainage

Freezing temperatures can strain plumbing systems. Spring is the time to check for leaks, cracked pipes, and slow drainage. Inspect exposed piping in basements, mechanical rooms, and exterior hose bibs for signs of damage.

Test sump pumps to ensure they are operational before spring rains arrive. Proper drainage prevents flooding and protects foundations from water intrusion. Downspouts should direct water away from the building, and splash blocks must be positioned correctly to avoid pooling near the structure.

Addressing drainage issues early reduces the risk of water-related damage and costly remediation later in the year.

Repairing Asphalt Lots

Parking lots and driveways often take a beating during winter. Freeze-thaw cycles can cause asphalt to crack, shift, and develop potholes. Left untreated, these issues can worsen quickly, creating safety hazards and liability concerns.

Spring is the ideal time to inspect asphalt surfaces for cracks, depressions, and surface deterioration. Small cracks should be sealed promptly to prevent water infiltration that can weaken the base layers beneath. Potholes should be filled and compacted properly to restore a smooth, safe surface.

Sealcoating may also be necessary if the asphalt shows signs of fading or oxidation. A fresh sealcoat not only improves appearance but also protects against UV damage and moisture penetration. Asphalt repair doesn’t always require a massive overhaul; knowing how to properly patch is often the best solution to refresh your lot.

Testing Safety Systems

Life safety systems should always be a priority. Spring is an excellent time to test smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, fire alarms, and sprinkler systems. Batteries should be replaced where necessary, and professional inspections should be scheduled according to local codes and regulations.

Emergency lighting and exit signage must function properly in case of power outages. In multi-unit properties, verify that fire extinguishers are accessible and fully charged. Elevators, if applicable, should also undergo routine inspections to confirm safe operation.

By ensuring safety systems are fully operational, property managers reduce risk and maintain compliance with building regulations.

Evaluating Interior Common Areas

Common areas often experience high foot traffic during winter months. Spring cleaning provides an opportunity to refresh these spaces and address wear and tear. Carpets may need deep cleaning, floors may require polishing, and walls could benefit from touch-up paint.

Lighting fixtures should be checked for burnt-out bulbs or outdated components. Upgrading to energy-efficient LED lighting can lower operating costs and improve overall brightness. Clean windows allow more natural light into common areas, creating a more welcoming environment.

Small aesthetic improvements can significantly enhance tenant satisfaction and reinforce a property’s reputation for quality management.

Reviewing Pest Control Measures

Warmer weather often brings increased pest activity. Spring inspections should include checking for signs of rodents, insects, or nesting animals. Look for entry points around foundations, utility penetrations, and rooflines.

Sealing gaps, repairing screens, and scheduling preventive pest control treatments can stop infestations before they begin. Proper waste management practices, including secure trash enclosures and regular pickup schedules, also help deter pests.

Updating Maintenance Plans and Budgets

Spring maintenance is not just about repairs; it is also about planning. Review maintenance schedules, vendor contracts, and budget allocations to ensure adequate resources are in place for the months ahead. Anticipate seasonal needs such as landscaping services, HVAC inspections, and exterior cleaning.

Updating capital improvement plans allows property managers to prioritize long-term projects and avoid reactive spending. Clear documentation of completed maintenance tasks also provides valuable records for owners and stakeholders.

Strong planning leads to smoother operations throughout the year.

Communicating with Tenants

Seasonal transitions provide an opportunity to connect with tenants. Inform residents or commercial occupants about upcoming maintenance activities, parking lot repairs, or landscaping work. Clear communication minimizes disruptions and builds trust.

Encourage tenants to report maintenance concerns early. A simple reminder can help identify issues that may otherwise go unnoticed. Providing updates on improvements demonstrates attentiveness and commitment to maintaining a high-quality environment.

When tenants feel heard and informed, satisfaction and retention rates often improve.

Preparing for the Months Ahead

Spring maintenance for your properties sets the tone for the entire year. By addressing winter damage, servicing critical systems, and improving exterior spaces, property managers protect their investments and create safer, more attractive environments.

A comprehensive checklist helps ensure every detail is covered, from repairing asphalt lots to testing safety systems and refreshing landscaping. Preventive care reduces emergency repairs, lowers long-term costs, and enhances tenant relationships.

With a proactive approach, property managers can move into the warmer months with confidence, knowing their properties are prepared to perform at their best.

Casey Cartwright is a passionate copyeditor highly motivated to provide compelling SEO content in the digital marketing space. Her expertise includes a vast range of industries from highly technical, consumer, and lifestyle-based, with an emphasis on attention to detail and readability.

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More Home Improvement Stories

The most common causes for bottlenecks in warehouses

by Casey Cartwright
Contributing Writer

Warehouses sit at the center of modern commerce, yet their work remains mostly invisible until something breaks down. A late shipment, a backed-up dock or a crowded staging lane can turn a routine day into an expensive one. That is why warehouse bottlenecks matter. They expose weak points in the way a facility receives, stores, picks, packs, and ships goods.

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Photo: Tiger Lily/PEXELS

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In many operations, the real challenge is not identifying the slowdown, but tracing the problem back to its cause. Below, we’ll outline the most common causes for bottlenecks in warehouses and provide some measures managers can take to avoid them.

A Bottleneck Starts With Flow

A bottleneck forms when one part of the operation cannot keep pace with the rest. The issue may begin at receiving, where inbound freight sits too long before put-away. It may show up in picking, where workers spend too much time traveling between slots. It may emerge at shipping, where completed orders wait for wrapping, labeling, or door assignment.

Once one point in the system falls behind, the delay begins to spread. A slowdown in one area creates idle time in another and pressure somewhere else. By the end of the shift, managers are trying to recover the pace of the entire building.

Labor Shortages Change the Rhythm of the Floor

Staffing remains one of the most common causes of warehouse bottlenecks. Even a well-organized building loses efficiency when it lacks enough trained workers in the right roles. A short crew at receiving can leave trailers waiting at the dock, or a shortage of forklift drivers can delay replenishment. Too few workers at packing stations can leave finished orders sitting in queues.

This problem gets worse when volume shifts during the day. A warehouse may look properly staffed in the morning and still struggle by late afternoon if outbound demand spikes. Labor planning built on rough averages instead of task-by-task workload can leave entire departments scrambling to catch up.

Training Gaps Create Hidden Delays

Headcount alone does not solve the problem. A warehouse also depends on training that prepares workers to move safely and efficiently through the building. New employees need time to learn travel paths, scan procedures, slotting systems, and equipment rules. Without that foundation, even motivated crews can lose time through hesitation and mistakes.

Training gaps create hidden delays because they do not always look dramatic. A worker may pause at the wrong rack location, or another may scan the wrong pallet. Each moment seems minor, but across a full shift, those seconds turn into missed throughput and growing congestion.

Poor Layout Forces Extra Movement

Some bottlenecks begin long before the shift starts. They grow out of the physical design of the warehouse itself. If the layout forces workers to take longer routes, wait for traffic to clear, or move product twice, the building creates its own delays.

Aisles that are too narrow for traffic volume can slow forklifts and pickers at peak times. Storage zones far from packing or shipping stations add unnecessary travel to every order. Staging lanes that crowd active dock doors can block both inbound and outbound movement. These design choices make it harder for every team to keep a steady pace.

The Loading Dock Absorbs Pressure from Every Direction

The loading dock is one of the clearest examples of how small inefficiencies can turn into larger delays. It sits between receiving and shipping, which means it absorbs pressure from both sides of the operation. If too many trailers arrive in the same window, if drivers wait too long for door assignments, or if staging fills before a prior load clears, congestion builds quickly.

Once the dock loses rhythm, the rest of the warehouse feels it. Receiving crews cannot unload on time. Shipping teams cannot push completed orders out the door. Forklift traffic increases, space shrinks, and supervisors start making reactive decisions just to keep freight moving.

Rework at Shipping Slows the Entire Line

Outbound work becomes slower when crews must stop and fix preventable problems. Damaged pallets, loose cartons, missing labels, and unstable loads all create rework that interrupts the normal flow of shipments. Instead of moving freight from packing to staging to loading, workers pause to rebuild or secure what should have been ready.

Packaging equipment and load containment play a larger role here than many people realize. Stretch wrappers play an important role in reducing warehouse bottlenecks by reducing delays from unstable pallets and manual wrapping. In facilities where shipping volume runs high, repeated rework at that stage can back up the dock and strain the entire schedule.

Communication Problems Turn Small Issues into Bigger Ones

Warehouses depend on coordination between receiving, inventory control, picking, packing, and shipping. When that communication breaks down, a manageable delay can grow into a broader disruption. A late inbound trailer may compress the day’s labor plan, or a rush order may need to move ahead of standard work.

If those updates do not reach the right teams quickly, workers continue with outdated assumptions. That causes repeated questions, wasted motion, and frustration on the floor. Strong communication does not eliminate every bottleneck, but it keeps one problem from multiplying into several more.

Equipment Failure Exposes Weak Process Design

A single piece of equipment can determine whether a shift moves smoothly or falls behind. When a conveyor stops, cartons back up. When a scanner fails, workers switch to slower manual checks. When a forklift goes down, replenishment and loading can stall at the same time. If one wrapping station or labeling unit carries too much of the workload, a short outage can affect the entire building.

The deeper problem is not just the machine failure. It is the lack of flexibility around it. Operations that rely too heavily on one station or one asset leave themselves vulnerable. When workers have no efficient backup plan, delays spread faster, and recovery takes longer.

Temporary Workarounds Can Become Permanent Problems

In many warehouses, the first response to a bottleneck is a workaround. Supervisors move workers from one department to another, or stage orders in temporary corners. These choices may help in the moment, but they also create more touches and more confusion.

Over time, temporary fixes can become part of the routine. That is when a warehouse starts normalizing inefficiency. Managers then face the same delays day after day, even though everyone on the floor has learned to work around them.

Better Flow Starts With Observation

The most effective warehouses do not eliminate pressure, but reduce the friction that turns ordinary pressure into chronic delay. They match staffing to real workload, maintain equipment before failure disrupts the shift, and use slotting decisions that reflect actual product movement.

Why Bottlenecks Matter Beyond the Warehouse

A warehouse bottleneck is not just an internal operations problem. It affects transportation schedules, labor costs, customer expectations, and the reliability of the businesses that depend on those shipments. When delays build inside the building, they reach far beyond the dock door.

For managers, the central question is simple: where does the flow break first, and why? The answer usually points to labor, layout, data, equipment, or communication. Fixing that misalignment can steady the workday, protect workers, and keep freight moving on time.

Casey Cartwright is a passionate copyeditor highly motivated to provide compelling SEO content in the digital marketing space. Her expertise includes a vast range of industries from highly technical, consumer, and lifestyle-based, with an emphasis on attention to detail and readability.

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Op-Ed |Hating on immigrants hurts everyone - except for elites

Photo: Photo by Manny Becerra/Unsplash

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by Sonali Kolhatkar

     OtherWords

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Republicans are counting on fears of immigrants to draw white conservatives to the polls. This calculation is dangerous — and it lets the real villains in our politics off the hook.

There’s a direct line between Donald Trump’s 2015 declaration about Mexican “rapists” and his 2024 lie about Haitians eating pets. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), has echoed the horrific contention about Haitians even while admitting it was a lie.

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In Vance’s world, immigrants are smuggling fentanyl and importing illegal guns.

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Both men are married to women of immigrant origins and may not even believe their own lies. In fact, as a Yale law student in 2012, Vance wrote a blog post decrying Republican anti-immigrant rhetoric. But after he found how convenient it is to bash immigrants for votes, Vance asked his former professor to delete it.

During the vice presidential debate between Vance and Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), Vance scapegoated immigrants every chance he got. In Vance’s world, immigrants are smuggling fentanyl and importing illegal guns. They’re also driving up housing prices while simultaneously putting downward pressure on wages by working for pittances.

Never mind that it’s mostly U.S. citizens smuggling fentanyl, and that illegal guns are flowing the other way across the border — from the U.S. into Mexico. Never mind that it makes no sense for immigrants to be working for less while paradoxically being able to afford homes that Americans cannot.

Truth and logic are beside the point. Fear of the “other” is the plan. This makes life very dangerous for immigrants. Haitian migrants, among others, are facing threats to their safety.

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Beating the racist, anti-immigrant drum is the first step toward violence.

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Trump has repeatedly deployed Hitlerian language to describe immigrants, blaming them for “poisoning the blood” of the country and claiming that they commit homicide because they have “bad genes.” (One can hardly imagine him extending the same logic to mass shooters, who tend to be overwhelmingly white and male, or to the two white men who recently tried to assassinate him. According to Trump, being white means you have “good genes.”)

Beating the racist, anti-immigrant drum is the first step toward violence. The United Nations identifies hate speech as a “precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide,” and scholars of past genocides have drawn clear links between language that “otherizes” whole communities and pogroms aimed at them.

Anti-immigrant lies also harm native-born Americans. Trump, Vance, and their supporters recently unleashed rumors falsely blaming immigrants for disaster relief difficulties. Elon Musk jumped on the bandwagon, claiming that “FEMA used up its budget ferrying illegals into the country instead of saving American lives.”

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called these lies part of a “truly dangerous narrative.” Even Republican governors of hurricane-hit states are deeply appalled, warning that these lies threaten to disrupt disaster recovery efforts.

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If right-wing politicians really want to help Americans struggling with economic stressors, they could ban hedge fund managers from buying up homes.

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Most importantly, the purveyors of anti-immigrant hate let corporate power and wealthy elites — like Musk — off the hook for the problems facing Americans.  Hedge fund managers, not immigrants, are outbidding Americans for housing. Corporate employers keep wages low and privatization has ruined healthcare, not immigrants.

Oil and gas corporations are responsible for the catastrophic climate change fueling hurricanes like Helene and Milton, not immigrants. (Indeed, migrant workers often help rebuild after these catastrophes as communities struggle with a labor shortage).

If right-wing politicians really want to help Americans struggling with economic stressors, they could ban hedge fund managers from buying up homes, support single-payer health care, increase the federal minimum wage, tax billionaires, divert money from war to climate, hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate crimes, and back a renewable energy transition.

Instead, they attack immigrants — and do nothing.

Attacking immigrants and calling for mass deportations will do nothing to ease the very real struggles people face. What it will do is whip up hate and violence, give the purveyors of hate the political power they desperately seek, and let corporate vultures off the hook.

About the author:
Sonali Kolhatkar is the host of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.

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5 steps for COVID-19 long-haulers during their recovery

Photo: Edward Jenner/Pexels

StatePoint Media

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s becoming clear that some patients who were infected with the virus may have a longer path to recovery than others to feel like themselves again.

As of today, there have been 1,582 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the six villages covered by The Sentinel. Of the 19,023 cases diagnosed in Champaign County, 18,531 are considered "Recovered". However, many of those who survived the initial onslaught to their immune system still suffer from lingering effects of the infection.

A new analysis of Cigna claims data estimates that about seven to 10 percent of its commercial customers diagnosed with COVID-19 could be considered "long-haulers", or patients experiencing symptoms for longer than 12 weeks after initially getting sick. That claim falls in line with a study that states that about 10 percent of people who’ve had COVID-19 will experience prolonged symptoms one, two or even three months after they were infected.

While a wide range of symptoms have been observed, the most common include a persistent cough, breathlessness, muscle and body aches, and chest heaviness or pressure. Also sometimes present are skin rashes, palpitations, fever, headache, diarrhea, and pins and needles - an uncomfortable tingling or prickling, usually felt in the arms, legs, hands or feet.

"Much remains to be learned about the potential long-lasting effects of COVID-19, but the good news is that the health care community is working to support people in their recovery long after they leave the hospital," says Dr. Steve Miller, executive vice president and chief clinical officer, Cigna.

Dr. Miller, a nationally-recognized advocate for greater access, affordability and excellence in health care, is offering the following tips for those grappling with "Long COVID".

1. Take care of your mental health: It’s no secret that we’re facing a mental health crisis in America that will remain long after COVID-19 restrictions are eased. Last year alone, Cigna’s pharmacy benefit manager saw a nearly 8 percent increase in people using antidepressants.

Recovery from COVID-19 can be physically and mentally draining, especially for people whose symptoms persist for many weeks or months.

Cigna research shows at least 5 percent of its patients who recovered from COVID-19 developed a mental health disorder in the following months. The good news is that the pandemic has rapidly accelerated the availability and adoption of a range of behavioral health options, making it easier to find a mental health counselor who can help. In fact, 60 percent of Cigna behavioral health customers are now using virtual services – 97 percent of which had previously never had a virtual visit before the pandemic.

2. Take advantage of care managers: Many health plans have expanded access to virtual and telehealth services that can help you avoid additional trips to the clinic or emergency room.

Equally important, some health plans offer individualized support in your recovery from a "care manager". Think of them as a personal health advocate. They will check in to see how you’re feeling, help connect you with needed specialists and follow-up treatments, and will even check in on your family.

Patients who had a post-discharge visit with a provider, either in-person or virtually, and engaged with a Cigna care manager, saw savings of almost $2,000 in 60-day post-COVID costs. Care managers also helped people recover and return to work a full week sooner than average.

3. Get vaccinated when you can. Some preliminary reports show that getting the COVID-19 vaccine has helped improve symptoms for long-haulers.

4. Find a "long-hauler" clinic. Researchers are still learning about COVID-19’s long-term impacts, and there are a number of clinics opening across the country focused solely on treating COVID long-haulers. The National Institutes of Health has also dedicated $1.1 billion to the study of "Long COVID", and Cigna is coordinating closely with them and these clinics to support its customers. Connection is crucial, so also consider seeking out an online long-hauler support network like Survivor Corps.

5. Keep practicing COVID-19 precautions. Everyone is ready to get back to doing the things they love, but none of us are safe until all of us are safe. America is in a race to reach herd immunity before more contagious variants gain momentum. Continue wearing masks, washing your hands and practicing social distancing and encourage family and friends to do the same.

Ways to increase your public restroom’s hygiene

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Photo: Alban/Unsplash

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by Casey Cartwright
Contributing Writer

For business owners and facility managers, the condition of the restroom reflects directly on the rest of the organization. A neglected restroom signals a lack of attention to detail, while a pristine facility suggests you care about your patrons’ well-being. Prioritizing hygiene in these spaces protects public health and boosts your reputation. You can transform a standard restroom into a sanitary, welcoming environment by focusing on modern fixtures, consistent maintenance, and user education. Use these strategies to improve your public restroom’s hygiene.

Implement Touch-Free Fixtures

The primary battleground for germ transmission in any restroom is the surfaces. Handles, knobs, levers, and buttons serve as transfer points for bacteria and viruses. One infected person touches a flush handle, and the next five people pick up those pathogens. Eliminating these physical touchpoints drastically reduces the spread of illness.

Automatic Faucets and Soap Dispensers

The sink area presents a significant hygiene paradox. People go there to wash their hands, yet they must touch dirty faucet handles to start the water flow. After washing, they touch the same handles to turn the water off, recontaminating their clean skin. Automatic faucets solve this problem entirely. Infrared sensors detect the presence of hands and activate the water stream only when needed. This technology prevents cross-contamination and reduces water waste, as the tap cannot run accidentally.

Pairing touchless faucets with automatic soap dispensers creates a seamless handwashing experience. Traditional soap pumps often harbor a shocking amount of bacteria. An automatic dispenser delivers a pre-measured amount of soap without requiring any physical contact. This setup guarantees that every user has access to soap without the risk of picking up germs from the previous person.

Touchless Toilets and Hand Dryers

The flush lever on a toilet serves as another major germ hotspot. Users often flush the toilet before washing their hands, transferring fecal matter and other pathogens onto the handle. Touchless flush valves replace the manual lever with a sensor. The toilet flushes automatically when the user steps away, or the user can wave a hand over the sensor to trigger it. This upgrade improves hygiene and keeps the toilets cleaner, as the sensor guarantees a flush after every use.

Hand drying mechanisms also benefit from touchless technology. Old-fashioned crank paper towel dispensers require significant physical effort and contact. Modern, motion-activated dispensers release paper automatically. Alternatively, high-speed touchless hand dryers use powerful jets of air to strip water from hands. These dryers eliminate paper waste entirely and remove the need for users to touch a communal surface or overflowing trash bin.

Regular Cleaning Schedule

Technology helps, but it cannot replace the necessity of human effort. A spotless restroom requires a rigorous, consistent cleaning schedule. Dirt and grime accumulate quickly in high-traffic areas, and letting even a few hours pass without attention can lead to a messy, smelly environment.

Frequency of Cleaning

Determining the right cleaning frequency depends on foot traffic. A restroom in a busy airport or a popular restaurant on a Friday night requires hourly attention. A restroom in a small office might only need cleaning twice a day. Facility managers must monitor usage patterns to establish a schedule that keeps the space pristine.

During peak hours, staff should perform spot checks every thirty to sixty minutes. These quick checks involve picking up trash, wiping down wet counters, and refilling supplies. Deeper cleaning should happen during low-traffic periods or after closing. Consistency remains key. If users see a cleaning log on the back of the door with recent timestamps, they feel more confident in the facility’s safety.

Checklist of Cleaning Tasks

Staff members need clear direction on what constitutes a clean room. A mental checklist often leads to missed spots, so providing a physical or digital list keeps the process thorough. The cleaning crew must start by applying disinfectant to toilets and urinals, allowing the chemicals time to work. While the disinfectant sits, they can empty trash receptacles and replace liners.

Next, attention shifts to the counters and mirrors. Staff should wipe these surfaces dry and remove any soap scum or water spots. They must then scrub the toilets and urinals, paying close attention to the handles (if manual) and the surrounding floor area. High-touch surfaces like door handles, light switches, and stall latches require disinfection with a targeted cleaner. Finally, the team sweeps and mops the floors, working their way out of the room to avoid tracking dirt back in. This systematic approach guarantees that no surface goes untouched.

Provide High-Quality Hygiene Products

The supplies you stock speak volumes about how much you value your visitors. Cheap, ineffective products frustrate users and discourage proper hygiene practices. Investing in better supplies encourages people to wash their hands thoroughly and keeps the restroom cleaner.

Antibacterial Soap

Not all soaps offer the same cleaning power. While standard soap lifts dirt and grease, antibacterial soap provides an extra layer of protection by killing bacteria on the skin. Choose a formula with moisturizers, as industrial soaps can be harsh and drying. If the soap irritates the skin, people will wash their hands less often or for a shorter time. A pleasant, mild scent also improves the user experience, making handwashing feel like a refresh rather than a chore.

Paper Towels and Hand Sanitizer

The debate between paper towels and air dryers continues, but offering high-quality paper options remains a popular choice. Thin, scratchy towels that tear easily create a mess on the floor and frustrate users who need five sheets to dry their hands. Thick, absorbent towels do the job with fewer sheets, reducing overall waste. When you stock high-quality paper goods, you must also find the right towel dispenser to house them to prevent jams and maintain a tidy appearance.

In addition to soap and water, providing hand sanitizer inside and outside the restroom adds a final hygiene checkpoint. A dispenser near the exit allows users to sanitize their hands after touching the door handle, giving them peace of mind as they leave. Select a sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol to kill germs effectively.

Improve Ventilation

A clean restroom should smell like nothing at all. Strong chemical odors or, worse, biological smells indicate a ventilation problem. Poor air circulation allows moisture to settle on surfaces, creating the perfect breeding ground for mold, mildew, and bacteria. These contaminants compromise air quality and pose health risks to users with respiratory issues.

Importance of Air Circulation

Proper airflow removes moisture and odors swiftly. When a restroom lacks adequate ventilation, the humidity from sinks and toilets hangs in the air. This dampness keeps surfaces wet longer, allowing germs to multiply. Effective circulation pulls this stale, humid air out and replaces it with fresh air from the HVAC system or outdoors. This process keeps the room drier and inhibits bacterial growth on walls, ceilings, and grout lines.

Prioritizing Cleanliness Pays Off

Upgrading public restroom hygiene requires a multifaceted approach. It involves replacing outdated manual fixtures with touchless technology to break the chain of germ transmission. It demands a rigorous, accountable cleaning schedule carried out by diligent staff. It calls for high-quality supplies, from antibacterial soap to absorbent towels, and robust ventilation to keep the air safe. Finally, it relies on clear communication to help users do their part.

When you dedicate resources to these areas, you create a safer environment for everyone. Patrons notice the difference between a bare-minimum bathroom and one maintained with care. They leave with a positive impression, feeling safe and respected. In the long run, a hygienic restroom builds trust, protects public health, and reflects the high standards of your entire operation.

Casey Cartwright is a passionate copyeditor highly motivated to provide compelling SEO content in the digital marketing space. Her expertise includes a vast range of industries from highly technical, consumer, and lifestyle-based, with an emphasis on attention to detail and readability.

How businesses can improve risk management and build long-term stability

Businesses across Illinois continue to face economic uncertainty, workforce challenges, and evolving regulations that can impact daily operations. Experts say firms that adopt stronger risk management strategies can improve stability, strengthen employee confidence, and better prepare for future disruptions.

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by Casey Cartwright
Contributing Writer

Across Illinois communities, businesses continue to balance the pursuit of growth with environments shaped by uncertainty, evolving regulations, and shifting workforce expectations. From small service providers to larger regional employers, firms must navigate risks that extend beyond internal decision-making and into broader economic and social conditions.

These realities make it increasingly important for business leaders to adopt a more deliberate and structured approach to identifying and managing potential challenges before they escalate. Companies that embrace risk management strategies often discover that these efforts lead to more stable operations, improved employee confidence, and greater trust within their communities.

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Photo: TIMO/PEXELS

For some business, bad weather can sometimes disrupt operations, forcing the business and its employees to suffer financially from the loss of income.

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Recognize Your Local Risk Factors

Every business operates within a distinct local environment where regional conditions, infrastructure, and economic trends shape daily operations and long-term planning decisions in meaningful ways. In Illinois, factors such as seasonal weather patterns, transportation networks, and labor availability can introduce variables that directly affect productivity and safety. Taking the time to understand these influences allows firms to anticipate potential disruptions rather than simply reacting to them after the fact.

Leaders who actively evaluate their surroundings often gain a clearer understanding of how external conditions intersect with their internal processes. This can help them uncover vulnerabilities that may otherwise go unnoticed.

For example, they may examine how supply chain delays could impact customer commitments or how workforce shortages could affect service delivery. By identifying these connections early, businesses can begin to develop targeted responses that reduce risk exposure.

Establish Clear Internal Policies

Another way to enhance your firm’s risk management is to establish clear, comprehensive internal policies that set expectations for safety, compliance, and operational conduct across all levels of the organization. When employees understand their roles and responsibilities, they can contribute more effectively to a stable and predictable work environment. This clarity reduces the likelihood of misunderstandings that can lead to preventable incidents.

Consistency across departments also plays a critical role in reinforcing these policies, as uniform standards help create a cohesive operational structure that minimizes variability in how employees perform tasks. When all teams adhere to the same guidelines, the organization benefits from greater predictability and control. This alignment ultimately strengthens the firm’s ability to manage risk effectively.

Assess Your Financial Vulnerabilities

Financial risk represents a critical dimension of overall risk management, encompassing both predictable expenses and unexpected events that can disrupt a firm’s stability. Businesses that take a comprehensive approach to evaluating their financial exposure can better navigate challenges without compromising their long-term goals. This process involves examining everything from operational costs to potential liabilities.

For example, companies with fleets should examine how accidents can affect commercial automobile premiums. In addition to insurance, contingency planning provides an added layer of protection by preparing businesses for scenarios that existing policies may not fully cover.

Establishing financial reserves and identifying alternative resources allows organizations to maintain operations during periods of disruption. This preparation contributes to greater resilience and confidence in the face of uncertainty.

Use Data To Identify Trends

The growing availability of data has transformed how businesses approach risk management, offering new opportunities to identify patterns and make more informed, evidence-based decisions rather than relying on assumptions. By tracking incidents, operational disruptions, and performance metrics, companies can gain a clearer understanding of where risks are most likely to occur. This insight enables more targeted interventions.

Analyzing trends over time allows organizations to move beyond reactive responses and address the underlying causes of recurring issues, leading to more sustainable improvements. For example, identifying patterns in workplace incidents may reveal specific conditions or behaviors that require attention. Addressing these root causes reduces the likelihood of future occurrences.

Strengthen Your Communication Channels

Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful risk management, ensuring that information flows freely among employees, managers, and leadership to support timely decision-making. When individuals feel comfortable sharing concerns or observations, organizations are better positioned to address potential risks before they develop into serious issues. This openness fosters a culture of collaboration.

Leadership plays a significant role in shaping communication practices by setting expectations for transparency and responsiveness in daily operations. Managers who actively encourage dialogue and listen to employee feedback create an environment where they can address concerns constructively. This approach helps build trust within the organization.

Engage Local and Industry Resources

Businesses do not operate in isolation, and many benefit from engaging with local organizations and industry groups that offer guidance, resources, and support related to risk management. Chambers of commerce, trade associations, and public agencies often provide valuable information that can help firms navigate complex challenges. These connections expand access to expertise.

Collaboration within the business community allows organizations to share experiences and learn from one another, creating opportunities for collective problem-solving that benefits the broader region. By participating in these networks, firms can gain insights into best practices and emerging trends. This shared knowledge strengthens overall resilience.

Prepare for Regulatory Shifts

Regulatory requirements continue to evolve across industries, reflecting changes in public policy, safety standards, and economic priorities that can significantly impact how businesses operate. Companies that remain attentive to these developments are better equipped to maintain compliance and avoid disruptions. However, this vigilance requires ongoing effort.

Proactive preparation involves reviewing existing policies and procedures in anticipation of new regulations, allowing businesses to make adjustments before changes take effect. This approach reduces the likelihood of last-minute challenges and demonstrates a commitment to responsible operations. It also helps build credibility with regulators and stakeholders.

Invest in Employee Training

Employee training represents a fundamental component of effective risk management, as well-informed workers are better equipped to recognize and respond to potential hazards in their daily activities. Regular training sessions reinforce key principles related to safety, compliance, and best practices. This ongoing education supports consistency.

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Pavel Danilyuk/PEXELS

Risk management is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process. Employee training represents a fundamental component of effective risk management. Regular workplace seminars help mitigate losses due to poor employee training and enhances production.

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Your training programs should evolve alongside the business by incorporating new technologies, updating procedures, and educating workers about emerging risks that may affect your operations. By keeping content relevant and engaging, organizations ensure that employees remain attentive and prepared. This adaptability enhances the effectiveness of training efforts.

Review and Improve Your Strategies Continuously

Risk management is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process that requires regular evaluation and adjustment to remain effective in a changing environment. Businesses that commit to continuous improvement are more likely to identify weaknesses and address them before they lead to significant problems. This proactive mindset supports resilience.

Tracking performance indicators, such as incident rates, financial outcomes, and employee feedback, provides valuable insight into how well current strategies are working. These metrics allow organizations to measure progress and identify areas for refinement. Data-driven adjustments lead to more effective outcomes.

Enhancing a firm’s approach to risk management requires a thoughtful combination of planning, communication, and continuous learning that extends beyond individual policies and into the organization's broader culture. Businesses that invest in these efforts reduce their exposure to potential challenges and create environments where employees and stakeholders feel more secure. This stability will strengthen your operations and allow you to experience more reliable outcomes.

Casey Cartwright is a passionate copyeditor highly motivated to provide compelling SEO content in the digital marketing space. Her expertise includes a vast range of industries from highly technical, consumer, and lifestyle-based, with an emphasis on attention to detail and readability.

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TAGS: Illinois business risk management, improving workplace safety strategies, financial planning for businesses, reducing operational risk exposure, employee training and compliance

Lifeguard shortage affecting summer pool staffing

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When local officials make decisions about where to close pools or cut back hours, they do so knowing that swimming has a fraught history of racial inequities.

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by Michelle Andrews
Kaiser Health News

KHN - Two summers ago, a teenager who had jumped off the diving board started struggling in the deep end, her arms flailing. It took only a few seconds for lifeguard Makenna John to notice the girl’s distress. She grabbed her rescue tube, jumped in, and helped the girl to safety.

This summer is Makenna’s third lifeguarding at the public pool in Roxana, Illinois, a village in the St. Louis area. Although dramatic rescues are relatively rare, she estimates that up to a quarter of the roughly 50 people she keeps a watchful eye on during a shift can’t swim. Then there are the daredevils and children whose parents think they’re better swimmers than they are.

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Photo: Sergio Souza/Pexels

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“It’s stressful because you’re responsible for ensuring the safety of all the people at the pool,” said Makenna, 17.

Lifeguarding may look like a cushy job. What’s not to like about lounging in a chair by the pool all day? But the job carries a load of responsibility.

Drowning is the No. 1 cause of death for children ages 1 to 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of those deaths occur in swimming pools. For kids 5-14, drowning is the second-most common type of unintentional injury death, behind motor vehicle deaths.

As schools let out and warm summer days draw people to pools and beaches around the country, many cities and towns are scrambling to hire enough lifeguards to safely oversee swimmers. If they can’t meet their targets, they may cut back pool hours or opt not to open some pools at all. While a shuttered pool on a hot summer day is a letdown for many residents, it can be a particularly big blow for low-income families who don’t have a lot of affordable summer fun options.

Up to 90% of Des Moines kids qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch, said Ben Page, director of Des Moines Parks and Recreation in Iowa. “People can’t afford to go to the movies for air conditioning,” he said.

When local officials make decisions about where to close pools or cut back hours, they do so knowing that swimming has a fraught history of racial inequities.

Racial disparities play a significant role in drowning deaths. Overall, the drowning death rate for Black people in the U.S. is 1.5 times that of white people. The difference is starkest for swimming pool deaths, in which Black children ages 10 to 14 drown at a rate 7.6 times that of their white peers, according to the CDC.

Research conducted in 2017 by the USA Swimming Foundation found that two-thirds of Black children have minimal swimming ability or can’t swim at all. Forty-five percent of Hispanic children are nonswimmers, as are 40% of white kids. (Hispanic people can be of any race or combination of races.) The same study found that 79% of kids in families with incomes less than $50,000 are unable to swim.

When Cullen Jones, the first Black American to hold a world record in swimming, was 5, he nearly drowned at a water park near his home in Irvington, New Jersey. At the time, he didn’t know how to swim, and lifeguards saved his life.

“Most people expect that if you have a near drowning, you were doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing, you were horseplaying or someone pushed you,” said Cullen, a four-time Olympic medalist.

Now 39, Jones travels the country as an ambassador for the USA Swimming Foundation, talking to kids about the importance of learning to swim.

It’s not hard to see the thread connecting lack of swimming ability and higher drowning rates among Blacks with the expansion of swimming pools in the United States. As cities embarked on a municipal pool building boom in the 1920s and ’30s, Black Americans were generally excluded from them, either explicitly because they were white-only pools, or by threats and violence, according to an exhibit at Philadelphia’s Fairmount Water Works titled “Pool: A Social History of Segregation.”

When desegregation was mandated after World War II, many towns closed or relocated their pools to secluded white neighborhoods rather than allow Black people to use them.

Funds also weren’t provided to support pools in majority-Black communities, said Kevin Dawson, an associate professor of history at the University of California-Merced, who has written on the topic. “They might not fill them all the time or not have lifeguards, so people couldn’t use them.”

As cities and towns today make decisions about which pools to open, many are doing so with a clear intention that they be accessible to poor or minority kids as well as those in less diverse or wealthier neighborhoods.

In Baltimore, where the public pools are free to all, city officials carefully selected which 12 of its 23 pools would open this year.

“We picked our pools so that it will be equitable and there would be locations on bus lines so that everyone will have access,” said Nikki Cobbs, chief of aquatics at the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks.

Recreational experts who’ve canvassed jurisdictions say they expect fewer closed pools this year than last.

“Things are a little bit better than they were,” said Kevin Roth, vice president for research, evaluation, and technology at the National Recreation and Park Association, an advocacy organization for people working in the parks and recreation field. “The open times may still be compressed, but there were communities that didn’t open half their pools last year, and we’re not hearing that this year.”

Still, lifeguard staffing shortages continue to put pressure on pool availability. In recent years, it’s become increasingly hard to fill seasonal lifeguard positions with teenagers, the backbone of the workforce.

That’s largely because employment patterns have changed.

Until 2000, about half of teenagers worked at least part of the summer, on average, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. But by 2010, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the employment rate for teens had dropped to about 30%. Many local parks and recreation staffers are well aware of this new reality.

“The opportunities for young people have increased, and many travel and do internships; they do sports and camp. We’re competing with a lot of things,” said April Chappell, aquatics director for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission.

“There’s been a bit of a cultural shift,” Roth said.

The tight labor market has also given teens better-paying employment options — such as fast-food, retail, or office jobs — that don’t require them to carve out time to get certified in swimming, CPR, and rescue operations by the Red Cross or another group.

Many cities and towns are now taking steps to compete, including boosting lifeguards’ hourly rates, promising bonuses, and offering to pay for lifeguard certification classes. Some are reaching out to retirees and nontraditional workers to fill their ranks.

Des Moines has hired 151 lifeguards to date, far more than the 125 minimum needed to staff its five pools, said Ian Knutsen, who supervises the city’s aquatics program.

Before recruitment got underway, they surveyed former lifeguards about what would make them want to sign up for a stint this year.

“Money was the biggest deciding factor,” Page said.

Des Moines lifeguards start at $15 an hour, compared with $13 last year. That makes the city jobs competitive with other local employers. Lifeguards get an additional $5 per hour for working on holidays. Those who stay through July can get a $200 bonus, which grows by $25 each year they come back, capping at $300.

Cincinnati raised lifeguard wages to $16 an hour, from $11.53 last year, and offered $500 bonuses to returning lifeguards. Despite that, lifeguard shortages persist and mean the city may be able to open only 13 of its 23 pools, said Chappell.

Kids often want to lifeguard at their neighborhood pool, Chappell said. But in some neighborhoods, there may not be enough kids who are swimmers to fill the spots. The city has programs to help increase those numbers.

Last winter, Cincinnati funded a lifeguard academy for people 14-24. The program pays for swimming lessons if they need them and pays for their lifeguard training, as well. About 150 applied, and over 60 became lifeguards, Chappell said.

It’s not only the number of lifeguards that determines pool availability. In Phoenix, lifeguard recruitment has been going great, said Adam Waltz, a spokesperson for the city’s parks and recreation division. Still, the city plans to open only 18 of its 29 pools for the summer, with some on staggered schedules. The sticking point: pool managers.

“In order to open 29 pools, you need to have 29 pool managers, and we couldn’t get that this year,” he said. “We can’t have a first-summer lifeguard calling the shots during a water emergency.”

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KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Commentary |How AI could take over elections – and undermine democracy

Gerd Altmann/Pixabay

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By:

Archon Fung
Harvard Kennedy School

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Lawrence Lessig
Harvard University

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Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways?

Sen. Josh Hawley asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this question in a May 16, 2023, U.S. Senate hearing on artificial intelligence. Altman replied that he was indeed concerned that some people might use language models to manipulate, persuade and engage in one-on-one interactions with voters.

Altman did not elaborate, but he might have had something like this scenario in mind. Imagine that soon, political technologists develop a machine called Clogger – a political campaign in a black box. Clogger relentlessly pursues just one objective: to maximize the chances that its candidate – the campaign that buys the services of Clogger Inc. – prevails in an election.

While platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube use forms of AI to get users to spend more time on their sites, Clogger’s AI would have a different objective: to change people’s voting behavior.

How Clogger would work

As a political scientist and a legal scholar who study the intersection of technology and democracy, we believe that something like Clogger could use automation to dramatically increase the scale and potentially the effectiveness of behavior manipulation and microtargeting techniques that political campaigns have used since the early 2000s. Just as advertisers use your browsing and social media history to individually target commercial and political ads now, Clogger would pay attention to you – and hundreds of millions of other voters – individually.

It would offer three advances over the current state-of-the-art algorithmic behavior manipulation. First, its language model would generate messages — texts, social media and email, perhaps including images and videos — tailored to you personally. Whereas advertisers strategically place a relatively small number of ads, language models such as ChatGPT can generate countless unique messages for you personally – and millions for others – over the course of a campaign.

Illustration: Amber/Pixabay

Second, Clogger would use a technique called reinforcement learning to generate a succession of messages that become increasingly more likely to change your vote. Reinforcement learning is a machine-learning, trial-and-error approach in which the computer takes actions and gets feedback about which work better in order to learn how to accomplish an objective. Machines that can play Go, Chess and many video games better than any human have used reinforcement learning.

Third, over the course of a campaign, Clogger’s messages could evolve in order to take into account your responses to the machine’s prior dispatches and what it has learned about changing others’ minds. Clogger would be able to carry on dynamic “conversations” with you – and millions of other people – over time. Clogger’s messages would be similar to ads that follow you across different websites and social media.

The nature of AI

Three more features – or bugs – are worth noting.

First, the messages that Clogger sends may or may not be political in content. The machine’s only goal is to maximize vote share, and it would likely devise strategies for achieving this goal that no human campaigner would have thought of.

One possibility is sending likely opponent voters information about nonpolitical passions that they have in sports or entertainment to bury the political messaging they receive. Another possibility is sending off-putting messages – for example incontinence advertisements – timed to coincide with opponents’ messaging. And another is manipulating voters’ social media friend groups to give the sense that their social circles support its candidate.

Second, Clogger has no regard for truth. Indeed, it has no way of knowing what is true or false. Language model “hallucinations” are not a problem for this machine because its objective is to change your vote, not to provide accurate information.

Third, because it is a black box type of artificial intelligence, people would have no way to know what strategies it uses.

Clogocracy

If the Republican presidential campaign were to deploy Clogger in 2024, the Democratic campaign would likely be compelled to respond in kind, perhaps with a similar machine. Call it Dogger. If the campaign managers thought that these machines were effective, the presidential contest might well come down to Clogger vs. Dogger, and the winner would be the client of the more effective machine.

Photo: Kp Yamu Jayanath/Pixabay

In the future, politicians who win their seats into office will do so only because they have access to the best artificial intelligence technology.

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Political scientists and pundits would have much to say about why one or the other AI prevailed, but likely no one would really know. The president will have been elected not because his or her policy proposals or political ideas persuaded more Americans, but because he or she had the more effective AI. The content that won the day would have come from an AI focused solely on victory, with no political ideas of its own, rather than from candidates or parties.

In this very important sense, a machine would have won the election rather than a person. The election would no longer be democratic, even though all of the ordinary activities of democracy – the speeches, the ads, the messages, the voting and the counting of votes – will have occurred.

The AI-elected president could then go one of two ways. He or she could use the mantle of election to pursue Republican or Democratic party policies. But because the party ideas may have had little to do with why people voted the way that they did – Clogger and Dogger don’t care about policy views – the president’s actions would not necessarily reflect the will of the voters. Voters would have been manipulated by the AI rather than freely choosing their political leaders and policies.

Another path is for the president to pursue the messages, behaviors and policies that the machine predicts will maximize the chances of reelection. On this path, the president would have no particular platform or agenda beyond maintaining power. The president’s actions, guided by Clogger, would be those most likely to manipulate voters rather than serve their genuine interests or even the president’s own ideology.

Avoiding Clogocracy

It would be possible to avoid AI election manipulation if candidates, campaigns and consultants all forswore the use of such political AI. We believe that is unlikely. If politically effective black boxes were developed, the temptation to use them would be almost irresistible. Indeed, political consultants might well see using these tools as required by their professional responsibility to help their candidates win. And once one candidate uses such an effective tool, the opponents could hardly be expected to resist by disarming unilaterally.

Enhanced privacy protection would help. Clogger would depend on access to vast amounts of personal data in order to target individuals, craft messages tailored to persuade or manipulate them, and track and retarget them over the course of a campaign. Every bit of that information that companies or policymakers deny the machine would make it less effective.

Strong data privacy laws could help steer AI away from being manipulative.

Another solution lies with elections commissions. They could try to ban or severely regulate these machines. There’s a fierce debate about whether such “replicant” speech, even if it’s political in nature, can be regulated. The U.S.’s extreme free speech tradition leads many leading academics to say it cannot.

But there is no reason to automatically extend the First Amendment’s protection to the product of these machines. The nation might well choose to give machines rights, but that should be a decision grounded in the challenges of today, not the misplaced assumption that James Madison’s views in 1789 were intended to apply to AI.

European Union regulators are moving in this direction. Policymakers revised the European Parliament’s draft of its Artificial Intelligence Act to designate “AI systems to influence voters in campaigns” as “high risk” and subject to regulatory scrutiny.

One constitutionally safer, if smaller, step, already adopted in part by European internet regulators and in California, is to prohibit bots from passing themselves off as people. For example, regulation might require that campaign messages come with disclaimers when the content they contain is generated by machines rather than humans.

This would be like the advertising disclaimer requirements – “Paid for by the Sam Jones for Congress Committee” – but modified to reflect its AI origin: “This AI-generated ad was paid for by the Sam Jones for Congress Committee.” A stronger version could require: “This AI-generated message is being sent to you by the Sam Jones for Congress Committee because Clogger has predicted that doing so will increase your chances of voting for Sam Jones by 0.0002%.” At the very least, we believe voters deserve to know when it is a bot speaking to them, and they should know why, as well.

The possibility of a system like Clogger shows that the path toward human collective disempowerment may not require some superhuman artificial general intelligence. It might just require overeager campaigners and consultants who have powerful new tools that can effectively push millions of people’s many buttons.

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Learn what you need to know about artificial intelligence by signing up for our newsletter series of four emails delivered over the course of a week. You can read all our stories on generative AI at TheConversation.com.

About the author:

Archon Fung, Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government, Harvard Kennedy School and Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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